A trailer for the new movie, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, has been released. It takes its premise from the well-loved tabletop role-playing game and it is set to star Chris Pine as a singing, charismatic bard, along with other stars such as Hugh Grant and Bridgerton's Regé-Jean Page.
Since the 1980s, this popular game has been a favorite pastime to many, with a Dungeon Master heading and running every game. Sharing similar experiences of wrangling players to take them on epic journeys leaves them to create hilarious memes on social media.
A Magical Gift
Items throughout D&D have always had magical properties to enhance the player's abilities in a wide range of areas, from physical modifiers to increase the wearer's strength, or simply a gourd to teleport players around the lands.
Dungeon Masters are usually no strangers to giving out the items as rewards for defeating a dungeon's final boss or protecting the city from a dragon attack. Many DM's fear that the reward becomes too frequent and makes the players too powerful for the upcoming enemies. However, DM's and players alike all find that the magic items make the game all the more enjoyable.
What Was That Again?
While having a lot planned, the stories told by the DM can include so much information that it is hard for the note-taker to get everything down, but this becomes even harder when the players want to mess around or get off topic.
It can be very frustrating having to repeat the story or fact that DM's have heavily crafted for the players to enjoy, it can be even more frustrating when it has to keep being said, but with the expansive amount of knowledge about the forgotten realms, their gods and the never-ending list of magic items, it is bound to happen.
Time Is Of The Essence!
A Dungeon's Masters job can quickly become very silent when players are faced with a new map of the city, a choice, or even just role-playing together as their characters sit in the local tavern discussing their next game plan to defeat the BBEG.
As the players talk to one another, the DM is silently staring, hoping that their clues have led the players down the correct path, or that someone rolls for insight on their party member. While the Dungeon Master concentrates, having already planned out their next moves, the drive to keep going or the intrigue of the clues deductions can be very intense.
Homebrew Planning
There are two types of DM's, those who stick to the pre-set campaign settings and those who decide they want to create their own plots for the players to follow. The latter requires a lot more planning, on top of encounters and plot hooks, DM's can see their work going draft after draft to make sure it is engaging.
The first draft of things, at the time, always seems like the best thing written, everything is falling into place, the story unfolded naturally and the fights are the best ever devised. Then it comes to the reread. It can completely diminish the DM's perceptions of the game, maybe great plot hole after plot hole that they hope the players will never figure out, but of course, they will.
Player Feedback
With all the work that goes into creating the encounters, maps, and NPCs, or using the pre-set campaign settings, it can be very easy for the dungeon master to believe that they aren't doing the best they could, or that the players like it, someone that gives them that added piece can bring the DM out of the slump.
The appreciation to those who give feedback to the Dungeon Masters can ensure that the game is fun for everyone involved and that it can even spark new thoughts and ideas in the DM's mind for how to continue the game past the first few levels. There is nothing more heart-warming than someone voicing their opinions to create a safe and enjoyable environment.
Hidden Lore
When homebrewing, many DM's find themselves over-encumbered by different tidbits of lore that make the world all the more expansive. With created knowledge about different groups, gods, cities, and continents, the players have all sorts for the picking, if it ever comes up.
With given specific paths in the narrative, much of what the DM creates can go amiss, with only a small fragment shining through when the DM needs it to, or when a player asks. A lot of D&D lore ends up being found through a heap of different checks, including history or insight, which is often forgotten amongst the roleplay.
It's A Pretty Good Name
Names have always been hard, even for expecting parents, but when the DM is the parent to hundreds of NPCs, sometimes the naming conventions become a bit disjointed. Dungeons and Dragons have always used mythology, history, and fantasy as bases for their characters.
Sometimes, after coming up with so many names, the only ones coming to mind are the weird and ridiculous ones. DMs pull out all the stops when their brain malfunctions, but sometimes, those types of names are the ones that stick with the players the most.
Dungeons >>> Magic Items
DM's spend so much time designing and crafting the perfect dungeon, down to the smallest alleyway with a single mimic in the corner, but when it comes to the rarity of magical items it can be difficult.
With rarity costing vastly different prices in-game, it can be hard to decide on what's best to assign them. As well as this, anything homebrew would need to be balanced to make sure that it is maybe considered 'legendary' Sometimes, the official reasoning for some items can make no sense with their assigned rarity, or be confusing with the different types.
Can't Have Anything Nice
DM's all know that players can sometimes go on a bit of a murder streak through the cities when they're in their own time and sometimes the DM's cherished NPCs get caught in the crossfire.
DM's want to give players the best NPCs to go to in a time of need, and create loads with different personalities that they can roleplay to get involved, but sometimes, because of the player's temperament for murder, they can see the NPC as a problem that they need to get rid of, instead of the helpful aid.